Stretcher



April 11, 1950 w 2,503,314

STRETCHER Filed Jan. 11, 1946 V 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Y Attorneys 1 A. E. ATWOOD STRETCHER April 11, 1950:

' :5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 11, 1946 A tto may;

A. E. ATWOOD' April 11, 1950 STRETCHER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 11, 1946' Altai-nay:

Patented Apr. 11, 1950 UNITED": STATES PATENT OFFICE] Arthur Eugene Atwood, Raymond, Alberta,

. Canada Application January 11, 1946, Serial No. 640,452

(cl; 5. s2)

. 4 Claims.

' This invention relates to stretchers'for carrying the sick, wounded or acorpse fromone place to another. Oneof the objects of the invention is to provide a stretcher of improved construction whereby a device of this charactermay be rendered more efiective in the care, transfer and treatment of the sick or wounded, and whereby discomfort, which is due in a large measure to the shocks and jars to which the patient may be subjected, will be reduced to a minimum.

Another object of my inmprovement is the provision of a stretcher which is comprised of two rigid sections.

Another object is the provision of. a stretcher that may be separated, laterally, so that a patient may be easily and comfortably placed on a bed without the necessity of removing him from the stretcher, in other words, the stretcher is removed'from the patient.

There are certain types of cases, such as spinal or internal injuries, that require a rigid stretcher and extreme care in the loading and unloading of the patient. I Advantages of my improvement are especially applicable in cases of these types.

It should be understood'that where the word patient is used througout the specification, it also includes a corpse. I

The above and other objects will become apparent from a reading of the specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of the stretcher,

Figure 2 is a side elevation, with a patient thereon,

Figure 3 is an end elevation,

Figure 4 illustrates the stretcher in its open position,

Figure 5 illustrates an end view of the stretcher when it is in unlocked position,

Figure 6 illustrates an end view, partly in section, of the invention in its locked or operative position,

Figure '7 is a cross sectional view of the stretcher sections disconnected and folded one upon the other,

Figure 8 is a plan view of the device in its preliminary position for operation,

Figure 9 is an enlarged detail plan view of an end of one section of the stretcher,

Figure 10 is a similar view of the corresponding end of the other section of the stretcher,

Figure 11 is a sectional view taken on the line llll of Figure 8, and

Figure 12 is a detail view of a corner of the stretcher taken on the line l2|2 of Figure 9.

Referring now to the drawings the numeral I 5 refers to the stretcher in its entirety, which is composed of sections provided with longitudinal rails I6 and H. The rail [6, has removably attached to end thereof and substantially at a right angle thereto a tubular member l8 which has a latch member l9 mounted thereon, said latch member being actuated by a spring 20. The latch member I9 is pivotedly mounted, as illustrated at 2|, and has at its inner end the downwardly extending lug or finger 22.

At this same end of the stretcher the rail I! is provided with a pivoted bar 25 having a plurality of serrations 26 thereon, its pivot 21 being arranged at its inner end and at the outer end of a bar 28 which extends laterally from rail IT. The bar 28 is removably attached to the longitudinal rail H, the detaching means to be described hereinafter.

When the serrated bar 25 is in its extended or open position, it may be inserted into the tube I8, thereby permitting the latch [9 to retain the two members in locked position through cooperation of the lug22 and one of the serrations 26. The spring 20 will retain the lug 22 in whichever serration it is deposited. To separate the two sections of the stretcher, it is only necessary to reverse the above described action.

In order to remove the tube I 8 from the rail Hi, there is provided a bolt 29 which extends through openings in a forked member 30, the member 30 having upper and lower portions 3| and 32 arranged for reception therebetween of a hub 33, which has, preferably, integral therewith a handle 34. The forked member 30 has a cylindrical stub portion 35 which is arranged for reception of an end of the rail I6.

In order to disassemble any of the four corners of the stretcher it is only necessary to unscrew a wing nut 36, remove the bolt 29 and then separate the parts.

Base members 40 and 4|, of triangular cross section, have attached to the outer wide edges thereof any desirable number of rail retaining members 42 and 43, respectively, and at their ends are supported and reinforced by plates 44.

The tubular members I8 and bars 28 are formed integral with or suitably secured to the fork members 30.

Preferably, attached to the rails I6 and I! may be any retaining means, such as straps 45.

The diagonal corners of the stretcher are similar in construction and it is therefore believed to be superfluous to repeat the description of each corner. The only diiference in their structure being in the manner of arranging the tubes l8 and bars 25 and 28, each being on opposite sides at the ends of the stretcher.

The arrangement of transposing the end structure so that the members I8 and 28 are located at diagonally opposite corners, provides the added advantage of preventing sagging of the stretcher when a patient is being carried thereon by insuring thatthestretcher will be of uniform strength at both ends.

Figure 8 clearly illustrates the preferred manner in which the stretcher may be operated.

One end is locked, in the manner as already de-- scribed, and in a scissor-like manner, the sections are brought together, thus gently lifting thepatient up until the inner edges of the bases 80" and supported at its ends by the corner members I of said sections, each of said supporting members or bars being, tapered in cross section inwardly and toward. the supporting member or bar of the other stretcher section, one of the corner members of each. section having an inwardly extending tubular member provided with a spring latch, the other corner member of each stretcher section having an inwardly extending bar, a latch bar hingedly connected to the free end of said inwardly extending bar and provided with notches or serrations, said tubular members and latch bars of the two sections being disposed at opposite ends of the stretcher for detachable and adjustable engagement of said hinged latch bars in said tubular members, said spring latch means being constructed and arranged for detachably and adjustably latching the hinged latch bars in the tubular members for varying the width of the F Number stretcher, and said hinges being constructed and arranged whereby one end of the stretcher can be connected and the other end thereof subsequently moved toward a connected position, so that the stretcher may be assembled beneath a person to be supported thereby and while requiring onl a slight elevation of the person.

2. A stretcher as in claim 1, each of said sections including" a rod extending longitudinally thereof and secured at its ends in the section corner members and disposed outwardly of and adjacent to the wider, outer edge of the supportingmember or bar of said section.

3. A stretcher as in claim 1, each of said sections including-1' a rod extending longitudinally thereof and secured at its ends in the section corner members and disposed outwardly of and adjacent to the wider, outer edge of the supporting. member or bar of said section, and straps connected to said rod and extending transversely of the stretcher for releasably and. adjustably retaining the body of the person thereon.

4. A stretcher as in claim 1, and a handle sw-ingably connectedto andprojecting from each 7 of said. corner members, said corner embers having means: for adjustably clamping the bandlestheretofor varying the relative. disposition of the-handlesdepending upon the widthof the stretcher.

ARTHUR EUGENE ATWOOD REFERENCES CITED The following references are oi recordin': the

file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Hiser "a is Aug. 21,1894 Bergman et al. May- 21', 1901 Ballard et al. -s Aug. 13,.191-2 Melzer" s Mar. 10, 1931 Heifelfinger July. 10, 1934 Anderson l s Dec, 11, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Number 

